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A Weekend of Teaching and Learning

This last weekend was a busy one. It started with me teaching a short seminar at Bluegrass Budokai on strength and conditioning work for martial artists. The host Craig Caudill was very gracious and the turnout was excellent. I chose to focus on bodyweight training rather than barbells or dumbbells for two reasons. First, these exercises require no equipment and can be done anywhere. Second, building fitness in fundamental bodyweight exercises should come before excess loading. Bodyweight exercises teach kinesthetic awareness, build joint stability, and reinforce proper movement biomechanics. In the seminar we looked at various pushing, pulling, and squatting motions from the standpoint of fundamental technique, advanced variations, and incorporation into training routines.

On Sunday Craig Caudill came to Valhalla Academy to lead a seminar on wrist lock techniques. Again the turnout was excellent and we had representatives from about five different Kentucky dojos. Craig reviewed some material he covered in his previous wrist lock seminar then added two new fundamental concepts that spawned dozens of specific applications. We worked on methods of setting these up from both standing and ground fighting situations. It is eye opening just how effective these techniques are and how there are opportunities to apply them. After the wrist lock instruction everyone spent some time rolling, training, and making new friends.

The weekend truly exemplified what the Valhalla Academy and the Bluegrass Budokai are all about – free exchange of knowledge in an ego-free environment among good friends.